Moving-picture machine.



WITNESSES E A; BUTLER,

MOViNG PICTURE MACHINE.

'aPPucmmw FILED AUG. l8. i914.

Pzaftezitefi S1 1935,

wfzwzzamz I BY Arron/ma C A BUTLER.

, MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPucATioN um: AUG.18, :914.

PHented Aug. 31, 1915. *1- c. s SHEETS-wine. m?

I I/VVEIVTOR WITNESSES v Cfiarkur' J5. fiaf/Zer Bi yaw 5M ATTORNEYS C. A BUTLER.

MOVING PHJTUR.

E MACHINE. 'MPUEATLQN'FILED AUG. as. 1914.

Emma Aug. 31,1915.

WITNESSES By a} now 311% ATTORNEYS i ovets CHARLES .53.. BUTLER, 01

To aZZ whom'it may concern 9 Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. BUTLER,

a citizen of the United States,and a re. ident of -Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented a new r and Improved Moving-Picture hlachine, of

object to provide an improved construction of frame and associated parts for moving the intermittent sprocket of the machine up and down without interfering with the time of the shutter with relation to the lens or with the intermittent movement the sprocket.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction designed to reduce to a minimum the lost motion between the intermittent movement of the sprocket and the shutter, saidstructure 0pcrating for producing this result without in terfering with the movement of the frame when adjusting the intermittent sprocket.

In carrying out the objects of the invention a supporting plate is provided which acts as a stationary frame which may he mounted upon a suitable base. To this plate or frauige is connected. the aper ured plate which iguides the film. Pivotally mounted on this plate is a swinging housing which carries'the various sprocket wheels for feeding the film, whereby when the housing is swung either up or down the film will be correspondingly moved in respect to the apertured plate. Connected with swinging frame is a lever construction :or actuating the frame- In order to lock the frame in any of its adjusted positions suitable clamping screws are provided which may be sufiiciently loose to allow a movement of the housing when positively moved by the lever whereby the housing may he moved at any time either while the filmis passing through the apertured plate or while the film is stationary.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section through machine embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine with. part or" the pivotally mounted housing broken away;

Fig. 3 is a side of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the same being the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 2. v

Referring $0 the'accompanying draw ng beveled SPGKAIIE,

ENE,

l l l by numeral, 1i. indicates e supporting plate provided with a base 2 which may he secured to any hind of a support. Connected with the plate 1 in any desired manner are boxes 3 and i which are designed-to accommodate the opposite end or the film 5 this part oithe device forming no part of the invention. 'ZJhe plate 1 is away at Sand 7 (Fig. 3) for accommodating the sprocket wheels 8, 9 and 1 0, the film guiding wheel 11 and power shaft 12. it will he observed that the plate 1' is thus providedwith an extension 13 havmg, preferably, an upstanding portion let to which an aperturcd plate 15 is connected, the ured plate 15 being oi any desired or preferablestructure. which is held stationary by plate 1 also carries the lens holding device 16 which is supported in any desired manner, as for instance by strap 17. At the forward part. fthe plate 1 a pivotal pin .18 is pro ided which pivotally,

supports the housing 19, which housing car ries the various film guiding and moving sprocket wheels, and also which carries the various operating mechanisms as more clearly shown in l 2. The power shaft 12 has connect-ed therewith suitable crank .20 which when operated moves the power near 21, which power gear operates a plurality of gearing and other mechanism in chamber 22, moving the sprocket wheels 8, 9 and 1G.

will be observed from 1 that the power meshes with pinion 23, and

with a second pinion 24-, wnich second pin-- ion is rigidly secured to shaft 25. Shaft 25 has a gear wheel 253 rigidly secured thereto which meshes with pinion 27 rigidly secured to shaft 28. Pinion 27 meshes with gear 29 which is or" the same size as gear 26, whereby shaft rigidly secured to gear 29 rotates at the same speed as slit-ti t 31 secured to pin ion 23, the intermediate pinionEl heingof the same size pinion sprocket wheel 8 and ii) to rotatevat the some intermediate sproc 1st 9 is connected with shaft 32, which shaft is connected with through a suitable intermittent movement 33which may he of the Geneva type or any other type desired wherein. the nuinherof rotations of shaft 32 will he the same as shaft 30 though the movement will he intermittent. Shaft 28 has not only pinion 27 secured thereto, hut a beveled 3-1 which meshes with a secured to shaft 86. Shaft 36 issuitably journaled in the outer end of housing 19, and has rigidly connected thereto a shutter 37 which may be of any desired type, but preferably of a shape substantially as shown in Fig. 1. From Fig. 1 it will be observed that the shutter 37 is almost a half disk, whereby there is substantially the same amount of light as darkness. It will be noted that the gear wheel Bl is larger than pinion 35, whereby the shutter will rotate faster than the shaft 32, preferably making three revolutions for each intermittent movement of the shaft 82, whereby the light is shut off whilethe picture is moving, and twice in addition, to minimize the flicker.

The housing 19 is swung or pivotally mounted upon the journal 18 adjacent to the shutter, and is guided in its movement by the clamping screws 38 and 39. The clamping screws 38 and 39 extend through slots 40 and 41, respectively, in the extensions 42 and 43 of housing 19, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. In order to produce a proper swinging or pivotal movement of the housing 19 a link 44. is pivotally connected with extension 43, which link is pivotally connected in turn with the lever 45, which lever is pivotally mounted at 4:6 on the stationary plate 1. By pressing downwardly upon the outer end of lever 45 the film will be moved upwardly, and by moving the lever l5 upwardly the film will be moved downwardly, regardless of whether or not the machine is in operation. This raising and lowering of the film will cause a proper framing of the picture at any time without varying or changing in the least any of the adjustments or the distances between the various sprocket wheels or other means operating the film. By this construc tion and arrangement the operator may turn crank 20 with one hand and at the same time move lever 45 with the other hand so as to either quickly or slowly adjust the machine so as to instantly frame the picture.

What I claim is 1. In a moving picture machine of the character described, a stationary plate carrying an apertured gate and a lens, a swinging frame pivotally mounted on said stationary plate, said pivotal mounting being an appreciable distance in front of the ap ertured gate and thc'lens, whereby the part of the frame opposite the gate, when moved pivotally a short distance, will travel substantially-in a straight line past the gate, said swinging frame carrying the various moving parts of a moving picture machine, including the sprocket wheels whereby the feeding sprocket and the take-up sprocket are movable with the frame, well as the intermittent sprocket, and means for swinging said frame on its pivotal support.

2. In a moving picture machine of the wardly extending portion of the frame, a

shutter connected with said shaft and rotated thereby, and mains for moving said film-operating mechanism up and down without substantially affecting the position of the shutter.

3. In a moving picture machine of the class described, a stationary plate carrying the apertured gate and the lens, and a swinging frame carrying the mechanism for mov,

ing the film, said swinging frame being pivotally connected with said stationary frame so as to move the intermittent sprocket wheel in direction substantially away from or toward the apertured gate and the other sprocket-wheels in proportion, and means for moving said swinging frame.

d. In a moving picture machine of the class described, a stationary plate carrying the apertured. gate and the lins, a swinging housing, means for pivotally connecting one end of said housing with said stationary plate, whereby the opposite end of the housing will move substantially parallel with the direction of travel of the film through said gate, the moving parts of the machine including the shutter and all of the sprocketwheels being mounted on said housing, means for swinging said housing, and means for frictionally clamping said. housing in position so as to frictionally resist said swinging movement.

5. In a moving picture machine of the class described, a stationary plate, a stationary aperturcd gate, a lens, a pivotally mounted housing carrying the moving parts of the picture machine, a journal member for pivotally mounting said housing to said stationary plate, whereby the intermittent sprocket wheel arranged on said housing may bev moved in a direction parallel to the movement of the film through said apertured gate, means for actuating said swinging housing, and means for locking the swinging housing in any of its adjusted positions.

.6. In a moving picture machine of the class described, a stationary plate, a stationary apertured gate, a lens, a pivotally mounted housing carrying the moving parts of the picture machine including the shuttor and the sprockets, a journal member ,arranged adjacent the shutter for pivotallv mamas 3 mounting saic'i housing on said. stationary In testimony whereof l nave signed my plate, whereby the intermittent sprocket name to this specification inthe presence 19 Wheel arranged on said housing may be of two subscribing Witnesses.

moved in a direction substantially parallel pH RLE TLER to the m'ovament of the film through Said U S U apertured gate, and means for locklng the wltnessesz pwotally mounted hsuslng 111 any deslrecl L. L. WESTFALL,

position. GEO. F. CANFIELD. 

